Today's Top Medical Stories for Monday, October 14, 2013

New research finds kids behave better if they have regular, set bedtimes and scientists say therapy and relaxation can prevent heart attacks.

People with heart disease who take care of their mental well-being for at least 2 years are 50 percent less likely to have a heart attack or die from their disease…according to new research.Greek scientists looked at 9 studies and found patients who took part in talk therapy, music therapy, relaxation exercise or prayer did best.

Researchers in Israel found people who are overweight as teenagers are twice as likely to develop esophageal cancer later in life.They also found if the teenagers were poor or had emigrated from another country, they were twice as likely to develop gastric cancer later in life.The researchers based their findings on routine health exams for one million Israeli men starting at age 17.

And children who don't have a set bedtime are more likely to have behavioral problems according to a new study in the journal Pediatrics.Researchers in the UK tracked the bedtimes of more than 10-thousand kids up until age 7 then compared their findings with progress reports from parents and teachers.They believe irregular bedtimes upset the body's natural rhythm and that sleep deprivation harmed developing brains.